Oil price plummet drives margins to record highs

摘要

The end-of-the-year swoon in crude oil and product prices proved a boon for retailers in 2018, producing the highest quarterly average rack-to-retail margins in the 21st century, according to data from OPIS’ MarginPro. Average national margins for the last quarter were 34.4cts/gal, compared to an average of 23.8cts/gal for the year. That puts the last three months of 2018 at 2.9cts/ gal ahead of margins for final quarter of 2014, which had the second-highest margins since the year 2000. The two quarters were the only ones in this century to average more than 30cts/gal, according to OPIS data. The average margin for all of 2018 was 23.8cts/gal, compared to an average 21.7cts/gal for 2017. Retail gasoline margins have averaged 17.1cts/gal in the 21st century, with margins in the second decade averaging 20cts/gal, OPIS data show.